[Porject] A Study on Information Need and Seeking Behavior of Taiwan Historical Archives Users (Scholars)

Project No.：NSC 88-2413-H-002-025
Period：1999.7-2000.7

Project Introduction

This research explores the information seeking and use behavior of scholar using a
qualitative approach. The study intends to understand and describe the contexts and
situations in which Ping-pu scholars and researchers interact with their information
world. The ultimate goal is to help design a useful digital libraries/museums to support Taiwanese native research.

This paper reports the empirical study of scholarly communication among users of the
Taiwan Historical Archives and how they find and use information. Several design principles are suggested based on the findings of such user study. In this research, we conducted exploratory empirical case studies from 10 Ping-pu scholars, using non-participant observation and deep interviews to collect the data. We also collected and analyzed the subjects’ publications to assist in probing the questions during the interview. Qualitative analyses were conducted to analyze and synthesize the data based on grounded theory.


Relevant Papers

1.Chang, Shan-Ju L, & Lee, Yu-Ya. (1999).Exploring information use of historical records and archives: from the user’s point of view. University Library Quarterly, 3(3), 65-80.
Abstract
As part of the national effort toward the digital libraries development, NTU DL/M
2 project has its initial goal to digitize the scare resources of Taiwan historical records collected in the National Taiwan University Library and some special collections from the Department of Anthropology, such as maps, photos, and articles of Taiwan native ethnic groups. By the virtue of those collections, they are raw materials suitable for research community. But how those scholars or researchers will make use of such a DL, especially how those scholars interact with the information provided, is an important issue that has not been addressed.

This paper reports the study of Taiwan research scholars’ tasks, their activities and
interactions with various resources. The results reveal why and how those scholars apply the tacit knowledge in their activities to complete their tasks and in their use of various resources, especially the Taiwan historical records. Implications for system design and information organization are discussed.
Keywords:User Studies, Information Needs, Information Seeking, Information Use, Digital Libraries, Metadata, Naturalistic Inquiry


2.Chang, Shan-Ju L. (1999).Digital Libraries for Humanities Scholars: An empirical study of users’ information behaviors. Journal of Library & Information Science, 14, 33-48.
Abstract
While user-centered design has been emphasized, much of the discussion of digital libraries is concerned about choosing Web-based technology to create a digitized collection and establish related infrastructure. An investigation into the potential users of a community-based digital library suggests that some critical social, ecological and cultural aspects of information-related behavior of those users need to be taken into account for a digital library to accomplish its goals.

This paper reports on an empirical study of scholarly communication among users of the Taiwan Historical Archives and how those scholars and researchers find and use information. Several design principles are suggested based on the findings of such user study.
Keywords: User Studies, Digital Libraries, Information Needs, Information Seeking,
Scholarly Communication